


panic room

by bereft_of_frogs



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Human, Angst, Arguing, Chronic Illness, Complicated Relationships, Diabetes, Drama, F/M, Gen, Guns, Home Invasion, Organized Crime, Protective Siblings, Protective Thor (Marvel), Seizures, Thor (Marvel) is a Good Bro, Threats of Violence, Thriller
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:34:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22261915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bereft_of_frogs/pseuds/bereft_of_frogs
Summary: [All-human, all-Earthlings AU based on the 2002 David Fincher filmPanic Room]Thor is a high school senior when his family - his caring but distant parents and his angry, sharp little brother who has recently utterly ruined Thor's life - moves from their home in the suburbs to the city. To an apartment deeded to their father by their deceased, reclusive, intensely paranoid aunt, who had installed an extensive security system that they never imagine they'd have use of.Until shortly after they move in, when Thor and Loki are left alone for the weekend while their parents are out of town.  The weekend turns into a desperate survival game, pitting the brothers against a group of intruders desperate for a treasure the mysterious Hela left behind. They are trapped in the panic room, an impenetrable steel box, while the intruders try to break down the door - by any means necessary. And they are running out of time.
Relationships: Gamora & Thanos (Marvel), Gamora/Peter Quill, Loki & Thor (Marvel)
Comments: 23
Kudos: 140





	panic room

**Author's Note:**

> Additional warnings: threats of violence, gunshots, some kind-of implied disordered eating
> 
> As always, any opinions expressed by characters does not necessarily reflect those of the author. 
> 
> Heavily inspired/based on [Panic Room (2002)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThhDTBbMc0M)
> 
> Enjoy!

The season is turning towards winter when they move into the apartment.

It’s in the city, a three story apartment in a brownstone that had once belonged to their father’s estranged sister - a woman Thor and Loki had never met but had heard was filthy rich and utterly insane. She died just after the beginning of the year and left a complex, tangled web of legal document that had taken months to sort through. By the time the lawyers were done with Hela's estate, their family held possession of the apartment, and their parents decided to move them into the city.

_“It will be a new start.”_

_“You know you’re not supposed to say stuff like that.”_

School has started, Thor’s final year. He has to change, midway through the semester which would be frustrating but his grades and test scores should be good enough to get into a decent college early decision, he just has to skate by for the rest of the year, not flunk any of his classes, and not cause any trouble. Any _more_ trouble.

Plus, it may be cowardly, but moving to a new school is easier than facing the ashes of what happened.

No one at this new school knows what happened at their old school in the suburbs. They don’t know anything about the swirl of gossip and drama that ended with Thor barely speaking to his brother, to his girlfriend transferring to a private school across the country, and his friends out for Loki’s blood. A rumor tracked back to the source. Lies, gossip, spread by a single person. The publication of a series of damning texts by an anonymous source that was easily revealed to be Loki. That was all it took, to blow up their social lives. Loki had become a pariah. Thor learned through the rumor mill that the rift between his old friends has intensified in the weeks since he left.

_“They’re not talking to each other. I’ve been trying but…”_

_“Nat, I’m sorry. Really.”_

_“I know you are. He’s not.”_

_Thor winces, but knows Nat’s right. “I’m sorry, you know I’ve tried…”_

The move to the city was entirely unrelated to the dissolution of Thor’s social circle. Their parents had begun planning it almost as soon as it became clear they would get the brownstone. It made sense. Their father’s businesses had been demanding more of his attention. The house in the suburbs had mounting problems and the costs of repairs and upkeep were fast surpassing its worth, so they decided to take it as an opportunity to downsize. It made sense, Thor admitted, though he would miss the big house with its large backyard, the tree he had learned to climb and once broken his leg falling out of, the kitchen door with a chart of their growing heights. He would be leaving behind the ghosts and memories that clung to the walls, and while the new apartment holds a slight allure of exciting novelty, he mourns the loss.

Especially since something about the whole thing had changed their family. Something had irrevocably shifted, leaving them fractured and tense. Thor no longer seems to understand how they are supposed to fit together, how they all Loki had become sullen, withdrawn, snappish, leading to the biggest blow up - a screaming, hysterical fight with their parents the night before the screenshots appeared online. They’d refused to tell Thor what it was about, but it felt like an ending of something comfortable. Things had been tense ever since. Their parents were distracted, distant. They barely noticed what happened after, the brother's sudden social isolation. They became increasingly absorbed in dealing with Hela's estate and in October the sale on the house was finalized, movers packed up all their belongings and they drove away from the suburbs to start over.

The week after they move in, the lawyer calls with another complication. Thor hears his father rage against her from his study, then his mother enters Thor's room with a bemused look on her face.

“We’ve got to go out of town for the weekend,” she says, sitting on the edge of Thor's bed.

Thor grins. “So I heard.”

She shakes her head. “Your father thinks Hela did all of this on purpose. To spite him. I think he’s just being paranoid, but who knows. She was a spiteful old bat. Will you stay in to watch your brother?”

“He won’t want me to.”

“Yes, Thor, but you _know_ how he gets. You remember what happened the last time we left him alone.” Loki actually ended up in the hospital. Thor, at an overnight lacrosse game, had gotten a terrifying call from a doctor at the emergency room when they couldn’t reach his parents, .

He sobers at the reminder, and nods. “Okay. I’ll babysit. But if he murders me and throws my body in the river…”

“Thor. That’s not funny. It’ll be fine, it might even be fun.” His mother rises. "You should really clean up in here, it's a mess."

At school, Thor stays quiet. He keeps his head down and avoids his brother in the halls, eats lunch in the library. He ignores his fellow students' curiosity, their attempts to draw him into their social circles, out of fear that they will learn about what happened at his old school. He is tired of the drama of it all, and just wants to survive the school year and go off to college. They stop trying after the first couple days. His one indulgence in socializing is joining the lacrosse team - which also serves as a good excuse not to walk home with his brother. Loki’s long left the school grounds by the time he gets out of practice and starts towards home.

Thor takes the long way through the park, taking advantage of what’s likely the last warm day of the season. It’s a Friday night and six months earlier Thor would have been making plans. He would have started the weekend getting a head start on homework with Jane, then pizza and the movies with everyone, and aimlessly driving around the neighborhood. Now he takes his time walking through the park, then lets himself in the front door.

“Hello?” He calls, dumping his bag in the entryway.

“In the kitchen, darling!” He finds his mother checking over the last of her to-do lists and carefully packing her carry-on. “How was school?”

“Fine.”

“Just fine?”

“Boring. You know. Had a test in physics, half of it I learned last year. At least it’s Friday.”

His mother hums as she finishes packing. “Well, I’m sorry I made you cancel your plans this weekend, but I really appreciate you staying in to watch after your brother.” Thor sits at the island, carefully not mentioned that there had been no plans to cancel. “Loki will _claim_ that he doesn’t need a babysitter, but I’ve been having that argument with him for the last three hours, so don’t let him start with you. I made sure his prescriptions were all filled earlier this week. There’s a chart on the fridge, the schedule, because you know how he gets, and the meal plan precisely matches-”

“I know,” Thor says patiently. “I know what I’m doing. And I was there when you filled them.”

Frigga closes her bag, smiling. “Of course, dear. I know you know what to do, it’s just that…I can’t help myself. I’m your mother and it’s my job to worry about the two of you.” She brushes his cheek. “Thank you, for doing this. I don’t know what I’d do without you. Okay, you know where the emergency numbers are, there’s an envelope of cash _for emergencies_ , and I even rented you a video!”

That brings Thor up short. “A video? Like Blockbuster? You can still do that?”

His mother nods. “From the library. I made sure your father unpacked the DVD player before he left this morning. I know this place is a little like living in the dark ages, but soon we’ll have internet back and in the meantime your very loving mother trekked to the library for you so I _do_ hope you _appreciate_ my efforts.” She winks.

“Of course. Thank you. It’ll be fine. We’ll be fine.”

She looks a little sad. “I know you will. I know things have been hard between you lately, but…it’s going to be fine. I know it.”

His mother disappears to say goodbye to Loki, then leaves in a cab to meet their father at the airport. The apartment settles into silence. It’s quiet here, quieter than Thor would have thought moving from the suburbs into the city. He looks at his phone. Nothing. No missed calls, no texts. Jane hasn’t called.

She hasn’t been calling a lot lately, not since she moved across the country for a special honors program in the wake of Loki’s destruction.

He sets his phone aside and puts on music while he cooks the dinner - according to the exacting instructions his mother had left, of course.

Thor avoids going up to get his brother when the food’s ready. Just calls up the stairs until he hears a distant huff and the thud of feet hitting the floor.

Loki’s quiet during dinner, leaning on his hand and poking at his food. Thor thinks about how their father would tell him to sit up straight, to get his elbow off the table, and says nothing about it. He himself keeps his phone at the table, another thing they’re not usually allowed to do. He doesn’t get any texts. It remains silent and still on the table, like a small black brick.

“Can I go?” Loki says after perhaps twenty minutes.

Thor glances at his plate and frowns. “Mother said-”

Loki sighs. “Mother said what? To count every damned bit of food I choke down.”

“You know that there’s a-”

“I _know_. Considering I _live_ in this body, you don’t think I _know_ what it needs?”

“Clearly not, given how much you've been fucking with all of this lately. Would you have eaten anything at all if I wasn’t here?”

“Yes,” Loki snaps back.

“Uh huh, just like you did last time, when you nearly _died_ -”

“I did _not-_ ”

“This is why I have to stay here and watch you, when you-”

“Well I didn’t _ask_ you to! You’re not obligated, Thor, you can go. I’ll tell Mother you were a perfect babysitter, you watched me like a fucking hawk, you can go off with your friends if you life. You can leave me _alone_.” He shoves his chair back from the table, folding his arms.

“And get another call from the hospital? And come home to find you sick, or delirious, or unconscious-” Loki huffs. Thor ignores him. “Besides, I don’t have any friends, you certainly saw to that. So I’m going to stay and you’re going to eat your dinner and-”

“I’m no longer hungry, and I can make my own decisions-”

“Jesus _Christ_ , Loki, you’re fourteen years old, you’re not a child! I shouldn’t have to sit here forcing dinner down your throat like you’re a toddler!”

Silence falls for a few minutes after Thor’s outburst. Loki just sullenly continues to pick at his food.

Thor finally sighs heavily and scrubs a hand over his face. He changes tactics. “ _Please_ finish your dinner.”

“I am not hungry.”

“You have to finish.” Loki stares back and him and finally Thor caves. “Fine, just fine. But you need to eat something before bed then. When you take your meds.”

A moments hesitation, then Loki nods. “Fine,” He acquiesces, like it was a compromise, like Loki was ceding ground in some battle instead of just agreeing to take care of himself.

Thor wonders why every conversation between them has to feel like a war.

Darkness falls as the sun sets. The couple lays in bed, lazily drifting off to sleep in the quiet. The city noise drifts in from their open window, people going to and from work, kids heading out to parties, arguments, sirens. But inside, things remain silent, enjoying the quiet time together in the late afternoon, often times the only time their schedules align.

Until their silence is broken by Gamora’s phone vibrating on the bedside table.

Peter groans as she pushes aside the covers and gets out of bed. “Where are you going?” He asks. “You’re coming back, right?”

She smiles. “Later.”

“Aw, come on, Gamora.” He pats the bed next to him. “It’s cold out there. And very warm in here.”

“Tempting as it is, I _told_ you, I have an errand to run tonight.”

“An errand to run. One you refuse to tell me about.” He sighs and flops back. “I hope it’s getting me a present.”

Gamora pulls a shirt over her head, steps into her jeans that had been scattered in the lead up to their earlier activities. “Of course.”

“Call me when you’re done. I think Rocket’s planning to go out. He’s trying to wrangle everyone to go to that new place uptown.”

“Sure.”

“Can’t wait for my present.”

She throws a pillow in his face.

Technically, it was a present. Just one Peter will hopefully never know she got him.

She checks her phone. _15 minutes_ , the text reads. The caller ID is blocked, scrambled. Another one comes through. _Outside_. She resists the urge to text back _that wasn’t 15 minutes_.

Outside her apartment building, a black car idles at the curb. Proxima is behind the wheel, her gaze steady on the road. Thanos sits in the back, bulk taking up most of the backseat. His grin widens as Gamora climbs into the passenger seat and shuts the door.

“Welcome back.”

His voice vibrates in her bones.

“I’m not back,” she reminds him.

“I know. Of course. Just one job. I promised.”

“One job, and I’m back to being gone. Nebula too. Forever.”

“Of course. Though the door will always be open.”

Peter could never know. Years it had taken her to get out of Thanos’s thumb, and now she was willingly going back - to buy their freedom for good this time.

Proxima pulls out into traffic.

“Who’s on the team?”

“All the usuals. The gang back together.” Thanos hands her a folder. “Here are the updated plans of the apartment. Not much has changed from the documents I gave you, but familiarize yourself with the updates. It will be a big job.”

“Is that why you’ve canceled on me six times?”

“We needed time to…prepare. Once we get what we’re looking for…we’ll be richer than ever. We’ll be set.”

“It’s a big haul,” Proxima says.

“And I get my cut, and you lose my number?” She twists in her seat to look at him. “You lose my number and you lose Nebula’s number. That was the deal.”

“Of course. Though you know you can always reach me.”

Gamora turns back to look at the road, unable to stomach looking at his face any longer. Once this job is over, she won’t need to reach him. She - and her sister - will be gone, free to go wherever they wish, safe from Thanos at last.

Maybe it’s just a comfortable lie she tells herself. A faint hope, that she holds in her heart to get her through the night and this one last job.

An hour after the abrupt ending of dinner, Thor finds Loki in his room. He hasn’t forgotten their brief, explosive argument, but the half-empty apartment is spooky and lonely, so he reaches out with an olive branch.

Loki’s bedroom is even more chaotic than Thor’s is. He hasn’t even begun to unpack his things. Scattered boxes and piled books and clothes lie all over the floor. Loki is stretched out on his stomach on the bed, flipping halfheartedly through a book.

Thor knocks on the doorframe. “Do you want to watch that movie Mom picked up?” He asks.

Loki looks up at him, then shrugs. “I suppose. There’s nothing else to do in this house.” They settle into the living room. The only furniture that has been unpacked is the sofa and the TV. There are other chairs, bookshelves, covered in plastic and haphazardly placed around the room. Loki watches with some amusement as Thor grumbles and struggles with wires to get the DVD player hooked up. They sit on opposite ends of the couch, and watch a DVD like it was a decade ago.

Jane finally starts responding to his texts. _Sorry, had a tutoring session. Kid is totally hopeless. How’s the new apartment?_ Thor smiles and texts her back, only half paying attention to the mindless comedy on the screen.

Loki falls asleep at some point, Thor’s not sure when. He just glances up from texting Jane and his brother is curled up on his side, eyes closed and breathing slow and even. His features have smoothed out in his sleep, making him look younger. Innocent. It makes Thor feel suddenly sad.

There was once a time where he would have lived for these nights home alone, just the two of them. They would watch TV and movies that they wouldn’t normally be allowed to, raid the fridge, play games and laugh. They had lived in their own little world for so long, they had been their own team, their own closest friends. And it had all fallen to pieces in barely a year.

Thor lets him sleep through the end of the movie. As the credits roll, he wakes him with a gentle hand to the back. “You fell asleep.”

Loki rubs his eyes, nods, and staggers to his feet. At the doorway, he pauses and turns back. “‘Night,” he mumbles.

“Goodnight.” Thor watches him go, still feeling a subdued sort of sadness, almost like homesickness. He knows what that feels like, when every night he goes home and misses their old house, the familiar creaks of the aging wood and the scrape of branches in the wind. This feels somehow worse, like it cuts deeper and wounds more gravely than missing a house ever could.

Thor closes up the house. He checks the locks and turns out the lights on the lower floor. Before he goes back to his bedroom he sets the alarm and fiddles with the screen, tabbing through the images from the security cameras all over the house.

Great Aunt Hela had been a bit unhinged, everyone agreed. She had grown paranoid, reclusive, in recent years. When the lawyer managing the estate gave them a tour of the house, she showed them the extensive security system - and the panic room. A thick steel door in the master bedroom, leading to a tight closet-like space. There are a few crates on the floor containing survival gear. The lights are fluorescent, harsh glow lighting up the small space. One wall was an array of screens and speakers.

“There are cameras all over the house. The door locks with a special code,” she said. “Once you’re in here, there’s no way for any intruders to get in.”

“That’s a bit creepy,” Loki said, poking his head into the room. “Why would Hela need something like this?”

“Many wealthy families have installed them, it’s a great security measure against-”

“It’s paranoid.” Loki stepped further inside. “And weird.”

The lawyer’s expression hardened. “Don’t play in there.”

“Come on, Loki.” Thor extended a hand, to draw him away from the panic room. “Let’s go see the courtyard.”

Now, Thor checks the security instructions, and spies the code to the panic room door. He shakes his head.

“So weird,” he mutters to himself. He finishes shutting the lights down, then goes back to the top floor and flops into bed. He falls asleep texting Jane.

_“Gang’s all back together!”_

_“None of the rest of us want this, Maw.”_

_“Come on, Proxima, I thought you’d be glad to see me.”_

_“I am not.”_

_“Let’s just do this. I want it over fast.”_

_“So impatient, Gamora.”_

_“Cull’s almost got the lock picked. Get ready.”_

_“Yes, sir.”_

Then Thor wakes. Thor opens his eyes to darkness and for a second, can’t tell what woke him, just that something did. Then he hears a sound from downstairs.

Frozen, he listens again. Maybe it’s just the building settling, just the normal sounds of a new home that he’s unused to. But he hears it again. The distinct sound of a footstep, and then following voices.

Heart pounding in his chest, he gets to his feet and creeps to the door.

“…where is it again? Off the master bedroom?” Thor hears someone say.

“Yes, this way,” comes the response.

Thor peers over the stair, and sees five people ascending the staircase, dressed all in black and carrying heavy duffel bags. They are led by a massive beast of a man, with a gun strapped to his hip.

Thor slips away from the stair, barely breathing. He moves as quietly as he can, clutching his phone tight in his fist. He slips into Loki’s room and presses a hand over his mouth, gripping his shoulder tight to wake him up. Loki jolts, fighting against him for a moment, before he realizes it’s Thor.

“There are people in the house,” Thor breathes, trying to keep calm in his voice. “We need to go. Quickly. Quietly.” He holds a finger to his lips. Loki, eyes wide, rises without further question. Thor keeps a hand firmly on his arm, pulling him through the darkness towards the hall. The only exit is downstairs, and there’s no way to get past them.

But there’s the panic room.

Thor offers up a brief apology for his rash judgement to the ghost of Hela. It appears her paranoia might actually save their lives.

He pauses at the door, listening for a moment. The voices have stopped at the top of the stairs, discussing - arguing about - something. _Them_ , it turns out.

“You said there wouldn’t be anyone fucking here!”

“Relax,” A deep voice says. “They’re just kids, they’ll be easily taken care of.”

Loki gasps in a breath and Thor tightens his grip on his brother’s arm. “On three,” he whispers. “Run. To _that_ room. Remember? The panic room?”

Loki nods tightly. “The code-”

“I know it. It’s okay. On three.” Thor holds up three fingers, counts down. “Go!” He shoves Loki in front of him, towards their parents bedroom.

“Hey!”

Thor pushes his brother and they sprint down the hall, footsteps trailing them. But Thor is faster, even having to keep Loki moving. They slip inside the panic room and Thor punches in the code just in time. The heavy steel door slams shut, the startled, furious faces of the invaders disappearing behind it.

“Dammit!” Maw snarls, skittering to a half as the door slams shut behind him.

“What do we do now?” Proxima asks.

“We get them out.” Thanos motions to Cull. He drops his heavy black bag to the floor.

“It shouldn’t be difficult,” Corvus says. “They are children.” He smiles. It is vicious, excited.

Gamora just leans against the doorframe, watching. The circumstances nag at her. She looks to Thanos with the grim feeling that there’s something he’s not telling them.

It takes a few minutes for the brothers to calm down. The lights and closed circuit cameras come on in the room, illuminating the room with a soft blue glow.

“Are you alright?” Thor asks when he’s caught his breath.

Loki nods. “Who are those people? What are they doing here?” His voice is tight, terrified.

“I don’t know. I’m assuming they’re here to rob us.” Thor lets out a semi-hysterical laugh.

“It’s not funny,” Loki snarls through gritted teeth. But he doesn’t push Thor away when he pulls him closer and embraces him.

“Okay. We’re safe in here. I have my phone. I’ll just call the police and we’ll be out of here in no time, I promise.” Thor rubs Loki’s arm, trying to soothe the terrified look off his face. “I promise, it’s going to be all right.”

Thor pulls his phone out of his pocket. The screen illuminates just long enough for him to see the little blinking low-battery warning before it goes dark. It doesn’t respond when he frantically presses the on button.

It’s dead.

“Thanos, I need to talk to you,” Gamora turns on her heel and walks into the hall, not bothering to check if Thanos followed, just trusting that he did.

“What, daughter, cold feet already?”

“ _Don’t call me that,_ ” She snaps. “You are not my father. And this is way more than I signed on for. An empty house, you said that it would be an empty house!”

“And it is not. A minor complication.”

“Stop! Stop with that. You were fucking with me, weren’t you? All those delays, _this_ is what you wanted to happen. You wanted them to be here for what, just to torment them like a child playing with ants? Just to make me watch?”

“Don’t be hysterical, Gamora. I had my reasons for the delays and they are my own. You’re forgetting, I have plans that have nothing to do with you. I have many things in this city to organize, more than you can possibly imagine.”

“Of course, your _grand_ plan.”

“Not everything is about you,” Thanos says quietly.

“But do you deny delaying us on purpose? For some…some plot that required them to be here? You’re not denying that you made this more difficult on purpose?”

Thanos doesn’t say anything, just turns back to the bedroom.

Gamora follows. Perhaps it is just paranoia but she can’t help but feel this whole thing was designed to ruin her life.

“The walls are thick,” Cull drones as he pulls out the plans. “Drilling through may not work, not for some time. Won’t be quick.”

“Perhaps if the apartment had been unoccupied,” Gamora snaps. “Like it had been for months, like it had been the first four times we’d planned on doing this job, we’d be able to take our time breaking in.”

“What will it take, Gamora, to get you to stop harping on this?” Thanos asks tiredly.

“Besides we’ll have so much more fun smoking them out,” Maw says. Proxima smiles viciously in return.

Gamora huffs. “And you’re _sure_ the box is in there?”

“Quite sure,” Thanos responds. “Though it is worth it to check in with our new little friends.” Thanos turns towards the door, raises his fist and knocks three times.

The phone on the wall has no dial tone when Thor picks it up. While the main phone line had been hooked up, this one was on its own line. The guy from the phone company hadn’t had time to format it, and their father was still debating paying the extra costs.

Thor slams it back into its cradle with a frustrated roar. “Shit. _Fuck_.”

Loki watches him with wide eyes, arms crossed tight against his chest. He jerks, turning towards the door when three heavy blows land on the metal.

“It’s okay. They can’t get in. This place is impenetrable, that’s what the lawyer said. Just ignore them.”

“Hm.” Loki says, hunching further into himself. Thor tears apart the crates on the floor, looking for a charger, looking for a radio, _anything_. The crates are full of survival gear, but no phones or charging cords. There are some sealed bottles of water, but no food. Thor moves a large, empty brown box aside and finds a couple flashlights and batteries, but nothing that can help him charge his phone. As he searches, the steady knocking on the door continues. Thor ignores it, but Loki doesn’t take his eyes off the door, growing paler by the moment.

“What about the neighbors?” Loki asks.

“You remember what the lawyer said, it’s three feet of cement, they’ll never hear us.” Thor goes to the cameras, watches the group of intruders as they stand in the master bedroom, talking. One is the source of the knocks on the door. Thor presses the intercom. “What do you want?” He says. He can tell it works because they all startle, looking towards the door. “Take whatever you want, you won’t find much.”

The biggest, the man who carried himself like their leader, grins at the camera. He finds the button to respond on the intercom.

“We’ll need you to come out first.” His voice is deep and resounding, even through the filter of the intercom.

“No,” Thor responds. “Sorry. The police are on their way, so I think we’ll sit tight until they arrive.”

The man’s grin only grows. It turns Thor’s stomach. Loki looks at him, eyes wide with terror. “I don’t think they are,” the man says. “See, there aren’t any working phones around here.”

Thor mutes the intercom. “How did he know about the phone? Shit. It doesn’t matter,” He says to Loki. “It’s fine, it’s going to be _fine_. We’ll just wait a little while, they can’t get in here, we’ll just wait and eventually they’ll take what they want and go away, and it will be _fine_.”

Loki nods, but bites his lip. “Thor?”

Thor takes a deep breath. “What?”

Loki looks at him with uncertainty in his eyes, then away. “Nothing.”

“What is it?”

“It’s just…” He bites at his thumb. “There’s no food in here. And I don’t have any of my medication. If we’re trapped in here…and Mom and Dad won’t be back until Sunday night.”

Of course not. _Of course not_. It’s in the fridge, all the way on the first floor. Thor’s heart sinks. He scrubs a hand over his face. “Okay. It’s still…it’s still fine, they’ll give up and go away soon. They’ll be gone by morning I’m sure.” If they’re not, it will be a different story. He runs through Loki’s medication schedule in his head, the timing of insulin and meals, and tries to calculate how long he can last. “It’ll be fine, it’s-” He remembers in an instant. “Oh. Oh, _shit_.”

“I fell asleep. On the couch.”

“ _Shit_ , Loki.”

“I’m _sorry_. I didn’t mean to, and how was I supposed to know that our house was going to be fucking broken into and we were going to get trapped in this creepy room.” He takes a deep breath. “I’ve done this before, if I skip dinner, usually I just wake up a little foggy in the middle of the night. How the fuck was I supposed to know this would happen?”

“You couldn’t have, but still Loki, you shouldn’t-”

“Is this really the time to be lecturing me, Thor? _Really?”_

“You’re right. I'm sorry.” Thor sits next to him against the wall. “How do you feel now?”

“Fine,” Loki says sharply. “I feel fine _now_.”

“You’ll tell me? If you start to feel sick or dizzy…” Loki nods shortly. Thor sighs. “It’s going to be okay.”

“You keep saying that.”

Thor rests his arm around his brother’s shoulders, tugs him closer. Loki folds his knees to his chest and leans in. He tries to hide it, but Thor catches a tremor in his hands as he brings them up to loop around his knees.

A clock in his head starts ticking.

They sit together against the wall, their usual feud set aside in the face of the crisis, watching the monitors and waiting for the intruders to go away.

The intruders are not having any better of a time figuring out how to break into the panic room. They spend while arguing about the best ways to break into the room - and what they will do to the occupants once they have.

“Stop it,” Gamora finally snaps. She pushes off from the wall. “This isn’t helping, _Jesus_ , listen to yourselves.”

“Do you have any bright ideas?” Proxima snaps back.

“Let me talk to them.” They all stare at her. “They’re kids. But they might be reasonable. They might be able to be coaxed out, if we just talk to them.”

“Let her try,” Thanos commands. The others look disappointed but move away from the door.

Gamora approaches the camera, makes an exaggerated show of knocking on the door. “Come on, come on,” she says under her breath. After a minute, the intercom crackles on.

“What do you want?” The voice of the older boy comes through the speaker.

“I want you to understand that we need to get into that room. We’re going to need you to open the door.”

“So you can kill us?”

“We’re not going to hurt you.”

“That’s not what they’ve said.” Gamora curses. So the boys had been listening to them. “So I think my brother and I will stay in here until the police arrive.”

“The police aren’t coming,” Maw says in a singsong voice. Gamora shoots him back a look.

“Then we’ll stay in here until you leave us the fuck alone!”

“Just a second,” Gamora says. “Just listen for a second. We just need something that the old woman left in that room. We’ll take them and be gone, I swear I won’t let the others hurt you. They’re very valuable documents, savings bonds, in a dark wood box. It’s worth a lot of money.”

“18 million dollars worth. Do you think your lives are worth 18 million dollars?” Proxima says.

“Would you _stop!”_ Gamora snaps at her. “We’re not going to hurt you, but we need you to come out. Hello? The box is all we want, just come out and we’ll find it-”

“They’re not listening,” Maw snarls.

“Maybe they are!” Gamora returns. She turns back towards the door, to where the camera is watching her. “Come on, kids, just come out and this will all be over.”

Thor frowns at the woman trying to reason with them. He highly doubts that they’re not going to hurt them. He’s seen the guns. He heard enough of their early arguing about what to do with them - before he silenced the speakers to spare his younger brother the more graphically violent threats.

But he frowns when the woman mentions a box. “Did you see a box?” Thor turns away from the screen. Loki shakes his head.

They both turn to the crates and start to dig through the contents, searching.

“I found it,” Loki gasps, pulling out a mahogany box, just as the woman had described. When Loki opens it, however, it’s empty.

“Nothing?” Thor asks.

Loki shakes his head. “Hela must have moved them. Cashed them, given them away, I don’t know, she sounds like the type to do something ridiculous with 18 million dollars. Buried it under a tree somewhere so no one would ever find it.”

“Shit.” Thor runs his hand threw his hair. “So we can’t give them what they want.”

“They’ll kill us. You know they will, if they find out it’s gone, you’ve heard them-” Loki’s eyes are watering, his mouth quivering.

“It’s okay. They still can’t get in here, there’s no way. This place is impenetrable. That’s what the lawyer said. We have to just wait them out. Soon enough they’ll get bored, or days will pass and Mom and Dad will come home-”

“They can’t leave us alive, Thor. We can identify them. They’re never going to leave us alone. I really don’t think they’ll let us just wait them out.”

And Loki won’t make it to when their parents return on Sunday evening. Thor’s brain has run the numbers and things don’t look good. Loki still _looks_ fine but that often means nothing where Loki is concerned. Once they had had a passionate fight not five minutes before Loki had fainted on the way into school.

Loki looks up at him now, his bright eyes staring in something like accusation. “Don’t you understand? _They’re not going to let us get out of here alive._ We’re going to die in this box.”

“We’re not,” Thor says. Loki just shoots him a skeptical look. “I swear, Loki, I’m not going to let that happen. Don’t you trust me?”

The question hangs between them for a long moment. The ravine that separates them gapes, even now. Loki holds his gaze, before finally breaking and turning away. “I don’t think you’ll have much of a choice.”

Thor takes a deep breath and hardens his resolve. “I’m going to try.”

“Gamora. It’s not working. They’ve silenced the speakers,” Proxima says through gritted teeth.

“How do you plan to get them out now? Any more bright plans, Gamora?” Maw mocks.

“Oh. We’ll get them out,” Thanos says with grim confidence. “It was a good try, dear, but now let the experts work.”

“Thanos,” Gamora begs. “Come on. They’re just kids.”

“They should learn when to surrender.” He nods to Corvus. He gets a grin on his face that turns Gamora’s stomach, and leaves.

“Thanos. I just…you promised me no one was going to get hurt. This house…”

“…was supposed to be empty. And is not. We must deal with the occupants as we would any other unexpected obstacle.” Silence falls between them while they wait for Corvus to return. “You’ve grown soft,” Thanos finally says, sounding almost gentle.

Gamora digs her thumbnail into her palm until it hurts. “Perhaps.”

“You’ve forgotten how the world truly is.”

“How _your_ world is. And I don’t want to live in it anymore.”

“You will only be hurt by the illusion of your new life.”

“Just because I do not wish to hurt children-”

“The older one just turned 18. Not a child by any means.”

“He’s frightened. We’ve invaded his home, we’ve threatened him, he just wants to protect his brother…”

Corvus returns, dragging a tank and a long hose behind him.

“Thanos…”

“It’s just to scare them,” Corvus sneers at her. “Just a little fright, then those foolish boys will open the door.”

“Do you know how much shit we’ll get in if they really get hurt? If they die?”

“You’re being dramatic, Gamora, I’m only going to scare them a little bit.”

She looks to Thanos, who merely waves his hand at Corvus. “Do it.”

Thor spends the time in silence tracing a circle on Loki’s shoulder with his thumb, trying to keep him calm. He doesn’t think it’s working very well. It’s been years since Loki sought him out for comfort - since just before he got sick. But while Loki remains tense and guarded, he does lean closer. After a little while, Thor glances down. Loki’s grabbed a fistful of Thor’s shirt tight in his hand. Thor rests his head against Loki’s.

They sit in silence, trying to ignore what’s going on outside the room.

Thor’s even starting to feel sleepy, dozing a little bit, when he hears a faint hissing sound coming from somewhere above them. He nudges Loki to get him off his arm and to let go of his shirt, and stands up.

“What is it? Thor?”

“Do you hear something?” He turns in a circle. “Like air…coming from…there.” A vent, set into the wall near the ceiling. Thor glances at the screen, then does a double take.

“Thor?”

He lunges for the monitors, looking closer. One of them is out of sight, must be flush to the wall. There is some kind of hosing leading towards the wall they share. Thanos is watching with grim determination. He looks straight at the camera, lips moving, and Thor turns on the sound.

“…last chance…”

Thor rushes back to the vent, tearing the covering from the wall. The second his face is in range he gets a nose full of the sour, acrid smell of gas.

“ _Thor!_ ” Loki calls, sounding frantic, as Thor stumbles back, coughing and gagging.

“Get on the ground. _Get on the ground!_ ” They have to get low, under the cloud of suffocating gas. Thor’s nose and throat burn already. He holds his brother to the floor. Loki is shaking beneath him, Thor covers him like it could somehow shield him from this.

Thanos is laughing, the deep chuckles distorted by the speakers. “Come out, come out, and this will all be over.”

“Thanos! _Enough!_ ” Gamora cries as Corvus pumps more gas into the room. “That’s enough!”

“Just a bit more.” Corvus twists the dial and releases more gas down the hose.

“You’re going to kill them!”

“They must break. We need the door opened. When the door opens, the gas will dissipate.” Thanos just keeps his eyes fixed on the camera, raising his voice a little though they have no way to know if they’ve silenced the speaker or not.

Proxima laughs behind her. “Come, Gamora, it’s just a little fun.”

“It’s not funny. How will you open the door if they’re dead?”

“Just a bit more. They’ll break, just a bit more.” Corvus starts to scowl at the still shut tight door. “And then we’ll truly have our fun with these meddlesome brats.”

The gas is already reaching their lungs, quickly filling the small space. Thor desperately tries to think, tries to come up with a plan. His mind goes to the inventory of items they pulled from the trunk - and it clicks.

“Stay…here…” He gasps. “Stay…down.” Loki turns halfway to look at him but doesn’t move. Still coughing, Thor crawls to the trunk and pulls out the heavy fire blankets that had covered the items in the trunk. He gropes at the bottom and finds the lighter.

“Thor, what are you-”

“Stay down!” Thor throws one blanket over Loki’s body and wraps the other around his shoulders. He climbs back up towards the vent, takes a steadying breath, and flicks the lighter.

“ _Thor?!_ ”

The gas ignites.

The flash of heat is instant and intense. Thor barely has time to throw the blanket up over his face. He manages to stumble back, half falling over Loki’s body. He buries his face in the back of his neck, covers Loki’s head with his hands and waits as the flame burns off the gas. A vent inside the panic room kicks on and cool, fresh air falls upon them.

The first thing he hears in the ringing silence that follows is screaming.

Thor glances up, panting. The monitors show two of the intruders spraying down a third with a fire extinguisher while Thanos watches, furious. Thor casts off the blanket and stands. Loki follows, shaking like a leaf.

They stand catching their breaths in the center of the room.

The flame is out. Gamora sprays down the residual fires around the room with the fire extinguisher.

Corvus wails, the skin on his face and neck and hands scorched red and blistering.

“Get him into a cold shower,” Thanos barks. Proxima drags him off, his screams echo down the corridor, then crescendo as the sound of water reaches them.

Gamora looks back to Thanos. He doesn’t look pleased. “This isn’t going to work. You can’t keep letting them do this. We have to abort this whole thing, it’s over.”

“They’ve seen our faces,” Cull says, his deep voice echoing. “They can identify us.”

“Shit,” Gamora kicks the bag that once contained their equipment. “You’ve fucked us! You’ve fucked us all! With your insistence on sadism. We could have done this weeks ago, we could have come and gone from an empty house in the dead of night. Instead, you insist on…on playing with your food. Playing mind games with this city. You want to see the look of fear on their faces. That’s all you want, you sick asshole.”

“Calm yourself, Gamora! A temporary setback.”

“Bullshit, this was a design.”

“And if it was? Do you not trust that I have a plan?” Thanos turns back to the door. “By the end of tonight, they will not be inclined to identify us, I swear it. We’re going to get into that room.”

Gamora bites her lip. She accepts for the first time that Thanos’s plan had been just as much about her as it was about the bonds, as it was about the mysterious Hela. This was about sucking her back in. This was about drawing her back into Thanos’s orbit, not setting her free.

A hopeless resignation washes over her. _I’m sorry, Peter,_ she thinks, tears stinging at her eyes.

She was never going to get out. She was a fool to think otherwise.

In the comedown from the adrenaline, relief turns into anger. Thor’s directed at their captors. He bangs his fist against the wall, imagining Thanos’s head instead of the cement brick.

“You could have killed us!” Loki shouts at him.

Thor’s heart is still pounding, the rush of adrenaline to his head making him feel dizzy. He laughs, he can’t help it. “But I didn’t. I hurt one of them instead.”

Loki strikes him. “Are you mad? Are you completely insane?”

“Am I completely insane? I’m the one protecting us, I’m the one coming up with a plan, the one actually doing something, unlike you just _sniping_ at me!” Loki hits him again and Thor seizes his wrists, slamming him against the wall with more force than he intended. “God, Loki, why are you _like_ this? Why are you _always_ like this?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Loki shoves him off.

“I’m talking about _everything!_ Everything for the past year - more. You fight me constantly and I’m tired of it when I have done nothing but take care of you. I’ve protected you for years and you repaid me by _ruining_ my life, ruining my friends’ lives, Jane’s-”

His brother’s eyes are shining. “Well you won’t have to take care of me much longer, you won’t be _obligated_ anymore. You can go off to college and we don’t have to ever speak again, I won’t fight you anymore, you can be happy with your friends and your girlfriend. It’s probably better that way.”

“Why do you say things like that? Why do you _always_ say things like that, as if you think I am-”

“Because…because you’re _right!_ You’re right, Thor, I fight you constantly, I’m bitter and angry and constantly annoying and I know but I can’t stop myself. I can’t help that I’m angry…that I’m sick all the time and that everyone hates me, but I am…and I am a curse to you. And I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’m so angry at you all the time. I wish I wasn’t. But it _is_ better if you go off to college and we never speak again. Because you’re right and I can’t help it. Because we’re nothing to each other, it doesn’t matter. Because _I’m not your brother_ , I’m not your responsibility. Because I’m nothing more than a burden that you have to deal with and that’s not fair.”

“Loki, what are you _talking_ about?”

“Because I’m _adopted!”_ Loki roars back. “That’s what our parents were hiding from you, that’s what we fought about last year, because…because they were getting ready to sell the house and they got careless about where they left important documents and I just walked in and there it fucking was. A piece of paper, with an official state seal on it and my name.” He’s crying hard now, chest heaving. “I don’t even know who I am. I don’t know _anything_. And you…you _hate_ me now. Because you’re trapped taking care of me when you shouldn’t have to. We’re not brothers. So you shouldn’t be obligated to babysit me. You shouldn’t be…be tethered to me when we’re nothing to each other.” Tears freely drip down Loki’s pale cheeks. “I’m sorry for what I did. I knew it was wrong. I shouldn’t have said that about her, I shouldn’t have published what your friends wrote. It was wrong but…but I just did it. I was so angry and I was so alone and I just thought…it wasn’t _fair_. I thought…I don’t know what I thought. Perhaps if you felt even a fraction of the pain, the loneliness I feel _constantly_ , for just a moment, you would maybe _understand_. But that only made you despise me more.”

“Why didn’t you _tell_ me? Why didn’t you say something?”

“Would you have listened? You hate me.”

“Loki, I…I don’t hate you.” Thor can barely keep standing, reeling from the revelation. “I don’t, I…”

Loki covers his face with a hand and sobs. “I feel sick.”

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Thor says. “I should have…shouldn’t have…”

“Did you know?” Loki doesn’t have to specify.

“No, I had…had no idea.” Until this exact moment. The intruders seem like a distant concern for the moment. Like they’re part of a movie put on pause while Thor’s life falls apart. Adopted? How was it _possible?_

“Mother didn’t want to tell me what happened. I begged, but she refused.”

It had to have been when Loki was days old. Hours. Thor remembers clearly how small Loki had been, the moment he had been put in Thor’s arms for the first time. Thor had been an excitable, energetic four year old but he had sat still on the sofa and obeyed the rules and his mother had put the sleeping baby in his lap. Loki had been so heavy and solid in his arms.

Thor hugs him now. Wraps his arms around his back and holds him. “I don’t…I _don’t_ hate you. That’s not…you’re not just some burden to me. You are…you _are_ my brother.” He doesn’t know what else to say. For a few minutes they just stand in the quiet, Thor’s mind spinning. As he calms from the adrenaline and focuses after the shock of Loki’s revelation, their current predicament becomes a pressing concern again. No matter what secrets their parents kept from them, no matter what more revelations there could be, they are still locked in a room, in danger from people who will likely kill them when they find out that their treasure is gone.

Thor takes a deep breath, steadying himself. “We’ll talk about this. Later. When we get out of here.”

“ _If_ we get out of here.” Loki’s words are fuzzy, muffled. They sound _wrong_.

Thor pulls back, takes his brother’s face in his hands. Sweat beads at his temples, his eyes are glassy and losing focus.

“You should sit down, Loki.”

“I feel sick,” he chokes out, words slurring.

Thor forces himself to stay calm. He eases Loki back to the floor, and pets back his hair, give him a wan smile. “It’s going to be okay. Take a deep breath.”

“No it’s not,” Loki whispers back. “We have to get out of here. Even if we do, or if they find out that what they’re looking for is gone, they’ll kill us.”

“I know. Just…just try and calm down. I’ll look…I’ll look again for something to eat, anything…” He turns to the crate, digging through. There is nothing, no food that he’s missed. Loki watches him silently. “Okay. We just need a new plan. It’s fine.”

“Thor, I swear if you say that one more time…”

“Sorry.” Thor cups his face again. Loki’s skin is pale, shining with sweat. His breathing is becoming a bit strained. “I was supposed to watch you this weekend. I’m doing a terrible job.” He drops his forehead to Loki’s and tries to think.

The night drags on. Proxima comes back to inform them that Corvus has at least stopped screaming, but will probably need medical attention.

“He’ll be fine,” Thanos dismisses her. “I’ll find him a doctor. But we have to get into that room.”

Maw looks furious, frustrated. “There’s the electrical charts. I left them in the bag by the door. If we fry the circuits-”

“You don’t think the designers would have thought of that? The door will seal if the electricity cuts,” Gamora says. “We won’t be able to get in, or hack the security system if there’s no power.”

“But they’ll be trapped in darkness, how long will it take to break them then?”

“And how will they open the door, or tell us that they’ve broken? And besides, you don’t know that that room isn’t on a separate, hidden circuit. Cutting the electricity to the house will likely only leave _us_ in the dark.”

Maw looks affronted. “You don’t get to waltz back in here and tell me-”

“Enough!” Thanos roars. “We have wasted enough time arguing. You two,” he gestures at Maw and Proxima. “Go find the plans. See if your little electricity plan is viable. Cull, start drilling again.”

“It will take hours to break through.”

“Then you’d best start now!” Thanos shouts. Instantly all spirit of insubordination is snuffed out. The hairs on Gamora’s arms raise.

Thanos is evidently running out of patience. He scrubs a hand over his face. “Go,” He says, and Maw and Proxima go without protest. Cull picks up his drill.

Gamora checks the time. Her phone is still in the car, locked in the glovebox where Thanos locks all his crews’ phones. She wonders if Peter’s texted her, if he’s called. He’s probably getting worried by now. Hopefully he won’t put it all together. Hopefully he’ll just go out with his friends and be a little concerned and by the time she’s out of here she’ll have come up with a good excuse.

She watches Thanos with suspicion. _If_ she gets out of here.

“Hey,” Loki stirs in Thor’s arms. “Wait.”

“What is it?” Thor lets him get up.

“I feel air.”

“Of course you do, there’s the vent.”

“Not from above. It’s coming from…”

“Loki, you should rest, lay down-”

“I’m fine,” Loki snaps, though he sways when he’s on his feet. His hands still shake. When he shakes off the head rush, he moves around the small room, feeling his way around the baseboard. “Fine. It’s…there. See?” He directs Thor to a small vent, little bigger than his fist. “It’s smells like _outside_ ,” He says excitedly. “Not like recycled air conditioning, like the city.”

“You’re right,” Thor says, incredulous. “We need to get the covering off.” He finds a small knife among the discarded materials from the crates and uses it to quickly remove the four screws from the vent. Once it’s off, they can see directly down the small air vent, a pipe that leads out to the courtyard. Directly in the center of the pipe they can see the illuminated kitchen window of the neighboring apartment, where an older man stands, drinking and reading a newspaper at his table.

“There’s no way he’ll hear us,” Thor says. “Not clear across the courtyard, and it was cold tonight. His windows are probably closed.”

“Wait.” Loki goes to the crate and finds a flashlight. He lays on his stomach and extends the light as far down the tunnel as he can. He flicks it on and off in a rhythmic pattern. Three short flashes of light, three long, three short, and then a pause before he starts again.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s morse code. SOS. Hopefully our friendly neighbor was military, or in the boy scouts.” Loki moves the flashlight away to check. The light does seem to catch on the old man’s eye. But there’s no way to know for sure and once Loki has put the flashlight back into the pipe it blocks their view. He just keeps clicking it on and off in that steady three letter pattern.

“How do you know Morse code?”

“I know things. It’s not hard,” Loki says simply, like it’s obvious that everyone should know Morse code and Thor was being particularly thick about it. He evidently thinks better of his attitude and glances back. “The internet. I read an article a few weeks ago. Lucky.”

Thor places a hand on his back. “And good that you remembered it. I’m glad you’re here.”

Loki blinks. His lips twitch. Then he turns back around and starts flicking the flashlight on and off again. “Let’s just hope it works.”

The light flashes in his eyes. What on Earth could that be? Instead of finishing shutting the blinds before bed, he stands, transfixed by the flashing lights. All night, he’s been hearing strange noises coming from that apartment and now the steadily flashing light. Almost as if in a pattern…

Wasn’t that apartment supposed to be empty? It had been silent and dark for a full year. After that woman died. He had watched, curious, as they pulled the body out on a covered stretcher. He’d tried to chat up the cops, but they wouldn’t tell him anything. There had been movers a little while ago but he had yet to meet any of his new neighbors.

The phone is in his hand. He doesn’t even really remember picking it up. One too many scotch and sodas as a nightcap. The 911 operator is probably going to call him a drunk old man. They had certainly sounded like they were thinking of it, last time he called for them to bust up a party on the ground floor. But something odd’s going on in that apartment across the courtyard and he’s not about to go check it out.

He dials the three numbers.

Thor spends the time Loki is occupied tapping out the SOS message on the flashlight alternatively watching the monitors and watching his brother. The intruders are not making much progress. The one he burned has not reappeared. Two others have moved to the front hall and are looking over blueprints. One is still drilling away at the door, obviously not having much luck. Thanos and the woman who had tried to coax them out are standing and watching him work in silence, with grim expressions on his face.

Then something changes.

“Loki…Loki come look at this. _It worked._ ” The clicking of the flashlight stops and Loki gets to his feet, though he wavers and has to brace himself against the wall when he stands.

“What?”

Lights flash in the windows. It’s hard to tell from the distortion on the monitors, but they must be tinted blue and red. “It worked,” Thor says, quieter. “Fuck, it actually worked, Loki you’re brilliant. Wait-” The police officer knocks on the door, exchanges a few words with one of the intruders. He steps inside and shuts the door, and their conversation continues. Thor tries to find the button to turn speakers for the front room, but can’t find it. “Shit. No.” He bangs his palm against the side of the monitor as the conversation continues. “They…must have intercepted the call somehow, _dammit_.”

“Thor?” Loki says in a slurred voice. Thor turns from the screen, silencing it. “I think I should go back to bed now. I’m not…I’m not ready for…”

“Go back to bed? What are you _talking_ about?” Thor realizes the meaning behind Loki’s nonsense a second later, turns just in time to catch Loki as he collapses, to ease him down to the floor as his limbs stiffen and jerk, head snapping back so hard Thor is terrified for a moment that he’s going to break his neck.

The seizure lasts a long few minutes. Thor vaguely remembers he’s supposed to time it, but he has no watch, no clock to keep count. He just strokes back his hair, whispering reassurances until Loki goes limp, breathing raggedly. Thor turns his brother on his side, resting his head in his lap. His hand shakes a little as he strokes his hair.

“It’s okay,” Thor whispers. “It’s okay.”

They need a new plan. There’s no more waiting.

Proxima interrupts their work. “Ronan’s here.”

“The kids found a way to call the cops?!” Cull stops drilling.

“How could they? It’s not possible,” Gamora says.

“Well _someone_ called them.”

Thanos pushes past them, stalking out of the bedroom and down the stairs. They all follow to the foyer where Ronan stands, in full uniform.

“You’re lucky I was in the neighborhood,” Ronan says lowly. “If I had not intercepted the call-”

“But you _were_ in the neighborhood,” Thanos returns. “You were in the neighborhood because your superior is also one of my men and he placed you here on the schedule tonight because I requested it.”

Silence falls. Gamora starts to sweat. She had always known that Thanos’s reach extended far into the city’s veins, but it seemed it was even deeper than she thought.

Her fellows are not as disturbed by this revelation as she is. Proxima grins wide, a sinister gleam in her eye. “Excellent. No one can stop us now. We have all night to wait.”

“All weekend,” Maw says. “Their parents aren’t due back for days. They’ll cave before long. They _will_. There has to be something that will get the door open.”

“If we just give Cull more time, he might-”

“He won’t. Those doors are too thick, they were designed to keep people out, to hold against drills,” Maw shakes his head. “There must be another way.”

“Thanos. Be reasonable about this. There’s a difference between breaking and entering and torturing children to death. That’s what they’ve all been talking about. The deaths of _kids_ , rich kids at that. You’re going to ruin all our lives. It doesn’t matter how far your reach extends, their parents have money, they’ll pursue us until the last. _That’s how this works._ ”

“You forget, Gamora. We’ll have 18 million dollars,” Proxima says.

“And you underestimate, child, how far my reach extends.”

That chills her blood, but she keeps pushing. “Your reach hasn’t gotten us into that room yet. And if they send more? Cops that aren’t under your thumb?”

“Would you prefer to keep watch for more officers, Gamora?” Ronan extends his extra gun towards her.

She snatches it away. “We should retreat. We should give up, try again another day.”

“The kids can identify us. They cannot be allowed to escape.”

“We need to-”

The argument continues to rage. In the heat of their fight, no one notices that they've all left the room, left the door to the panic room unguarded.

Loki hasn’t yet regained consciousness. Thor knows that’s _bad_. Loki’s only had one seizure before, about a year and a half ago, and Thor hadn’t been around. Just got a lengthy lecture from his mother about what to do.

Most of her advice is pretty useless in their current situation.

He’s still breathing, but he’s paler than Thor has ever seen him and so still he would appear dead if not for the shallow rise and fall of his chest.

They need to get out. The brief hope that the arrival of the police officer at their door brought was fleeting - it was obvious by the body language of the intruders that this man was one of them. But as Thor watches the intruders back off from the door, drawn into the front room by this newcomer. They seem to be arguing, passionately by the looks of it.

Loki’s medications are stored in the kitchen. If he takes the back staircase, he can make it there entirely bypassing the front room. The exits are still blocked, but he should be at least able to make it to the kitchen. It’s an insane risk - if they come back and find them gone they’ll tear the house apart looking for them. And once they learn that their treasure is gone, there’s no telling what they’ll do to them.

But if he can carry Loki to the kitchen, if he can get him conscious, maybe they can find their way out. They can run, or hide, and at the very least they won’t be sitting ducks in a cement and steel tomb.

He checks on his brother, who only barely stirs at his touch. His breathing is shallow, pale skin shining with sweat. Loki twitches and for a tense moment Thor thinks he’s going into another seizure, but it’s passing.

That decides it.

Carefully, he gathers Loki into his arms. His is completely limp. His head lolls back.

A last glance at the monitors reveal the intruders - Thanos included - are still fighting with the newcomer, still arguing passionately. Thor steels himself. He takes a deep breath and hits the code for the door. It slides open. A moment’s hesitation, but nothing changes. There are no signs the intruders have realized the door’s been opened.

Thor slips through the door, angling Loki carefully to avoid bumping his head against the doorframe. He hits the button to close the door and then the code to reseal it. The door beeps faintly, and Thor freezes for a moment, but hears nothing but the raised voices from downstairs.

Thor carries his brother through the house, trying to be as quiet as possible, but he’s sure his heartbeat is as loud as thunder. Against all odds, he makes it into the kitchen without being caught. He shuts the door behind him, standing silently for a moment until he’s sure no one has heard. His arms are shaking, strained from carrying Loki’s limp body through the house.

He lays his brother on the kitchen island, puts a dishtowel under his head as a cushion. The med kit is in the fridge, in a zipped bag. By the time he fetches it, his hands are no longer shaking, growing more sure as he takes out the meter and the injection kit.

Loki doesn’t stir as he pierces his finger with a barb, lets the blood drop onto a test strip and sets the meter aside. He draws the drug up into the syringe like he’d been shown, like he’d practiced with their mother. Though he’s never had to actually do this before. He takes a deep breath-

The door creaks open and Thor freezes.

It’s the woman, the slighter one, with long red-tinged hair. The one they had called Gamora. She stops cold when she sees them. There’s a gun held loose in her hand.

Thor takes this all in in about half a second, then spends the next two beats staring at her. She stares back in equal shock. Then she takes half a step back.

“Wait!” Thor gasps, stepping forward to cover Loki from sight. “Wait, please don’t-”

“I don’t know what you think is going to happen-”

“Please,” Thor whispers. “My brother, he’s really sick, if I don’t give him this shot…”

She hesitates a moment, glances back at the door. Thor doesn’t breathe. Then she nods. “Quickly. He’ll be suspicious when I’m not back.”

Thor turns back to Loki, hand shaking a little. He plunges the fine needle through the thin fabric of his brother’s pajamas, into his thigh. She watches him warily, gun still held in her hand.

Once the syringe is empty, he pulls it out and tosses it aside. He glances up. “Why can’t you just let us go?”

“Thanos won’t let you go. Not until he’s gotten what he’s come for.” She hesitates, glancing down at where Loki still lies unconscious. “And I have people to protect too.”

Thor nods and turns his attention back to Loki. Rather, he makes it seem like he’s turning his attention back to his brother, keeping his focus on her. And the gun. He takes a deep breath, cups Loki’s head.

He really hopes she doesn’t have any medical training. That she doesn’t know anyone with Type I diabetes, won’t recognize the symptoms of hypoglycemia, won’t understand what he’s done - that she won’t realize what he’s about to say doesn’t really make any sense.

“He’s not breathing,” He gasps. It’s not hard to sound panicked. He drapes his arm over Loki’s chest to disguise the steady rise and fall of his chest. “He’s not breathing!”

Gamora approaches. “ _Shit_. What do we do? Fuck.”

She’s close enough. Thor braces himself and throws his full body weight into her chest. She cries out in surprise, gathers her wits to drive her knee into his stomach. The air is driven from his lungs, but Thor is larger than her, unskilled, but larger and physically stronger and fueled by a feral panic, the instinct to protect his brother. Her wrist bends under his hand and she drops the gun. He moves fast, scoops it off the ground and points it at her head. His hand is steady.

“Shut the door.” He commands. “Do it!”

She raises her arms and nods. “Okay, kid. Just calm down.”

“Shut the door!”

She turns and closes the door. “We may have barred the door to Thanos, but we’re still stuck in here. There’s no way out of this kitchen.”

“You have a phone?” She shakes her head. Thor wipes sweat off his brow, breathing hard. “Shit.”

“Gamora?” That deep voice rings out.

Thor swallows. “Answer him.”

“I’m in the kitchen,” She calls back.

A hand on the doorknob.

“Lock it,” Thor commands. Gamora calmly complies, sliding the deadbolt into place. “I have a gun on her and I won’t hesitate to shoot if anyone else comes in here!” Thor keeps one hand on Loki, his other shakes where it points the gun.

There’s a moment’s shocked silence from the other side of the door. Thor hears hysterical laughter from the one who had tried to gas them, then that deep voice answers, “Child, you do not know what you are playing with.”

“I know I’m holding a gun at your friend’s head and if anyone tries to open that door I’ll kill her.”

There is a flurry of voices at the door, footsteps retreating. They’re going up to the panic room, where they will find only disappointment.

The footsteps return. “It’s locked!”

“And only I have the code,” Thor calls back. “If you want me to give it to you, let us go first.”

That deep voice chuckles. “How do you imagine this works, little negotiator?”

Thor forces the shake out of his hand. “I’ll take her. You’ll let the three of us go. Once we’re outside, I’ll give her the gun and tell her the code. We leave and no one comes after us. Then you can get in and take whatever you want.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then I’ll kill her.”

The voices on the other side of the door start to argue again. The kitchen remains silent, Thor and Gamora’s eyes locked on each other.

“You’re not going to kill me,” Gamora says softly after a few minutes.

Thor lets out a hysterical laugh. “Of course not. I just…I don’t know what else to do. I know what they’ll do to us, and I…I have to protect him.”

“I understand. I’ve got people to protect too. I’ve got people I want to look after. Shit.” She runs her hand through her hair. “That’s what this job was supposed to be, just one more favor and we were out. Look how well that’s going…”

“If you just let us go-”

“Thanos will kill me. He’ll kill my sister. He’ll kill my fiancé. Hell, he’ll probably track down and murder every person I’ve ever said a kind word to just to spite me. _You don’t understand_. You’re just some rich kid from the suburbs. You don’t know what it’s like here. He’s everywhere, everything. Thanos winning…it’s _inevitable_. So just give in-”

“So he can take what he wants and kill us anyway?”

“It’s the only chance you’ve got. If you keep toying with him like this, he’ll toy with you right back. He’ll come up with awful things to do to you both. You don’t understand what he’s like. He’s a sadist. It’s not just that he wants the money - he wants to hurt people too. He wants to make people scared of him. He lied to us - the apartment’s been empty for months, but he kept coming up with excuses to push the date back. He knew you’d moved in, he knew you were alone. This game is dangerous. If you want him to stop, just give him the code, let him have the money, end things now. Or else Thanos won’t stop until he has punished you for withholding what he wants-”

“It doesn’t exist.” Thor turns back to Loki, tears stinging in his eyes. “What he wants. It doesn’t exist. Your treasure is gone. I don’t know what Hela did with it. There was a chest, just as Thanos described but it was empty.”

Gamora swipes a hand over her mouth. “Shit.”

“Is he going to kill us when he finds out?”

“It’s more likely he’ll take you alive, if it’s any comfort. To use as hostages, until his fortune is secured.”

“And if it never is? Then he’ll just kill us.” Thor shakes his head. “We have to get out of here - if you just help us-”

“Kid, I can’t-”

“You don’t have to. And besides, I’ve got the gun, I’m the one with the hostage now. If they try to take us, I’ll…I’ll-” It seems very unlikely he’s going to get up the fortitude to kill her before that happened. But he can at least pretend.

If he is honest with himself, he doesn’t actually know what he’d do if Thanos or any of his men tried to touch his brother. The thought of killing this woman sickens him - but if that’s what it takes to protect his family, he thinks he might actually be able to do it. That thought scares him.

Gamora shakes her head. “He’s manipulating you. He doesn’t care about me. I’m just another one of his pawns, if he has to let me die to win…he will. He is using this to trick you into letting down your guard and when he regains the upper hand he will hurt you, and your brother. He’ll kill you once you’re no longer of any use to him. After...playing his games with you. That's what all this is, a sick fucking game. I thought I could get out. Like you, I thought I could protect the people I cared about. I couldn't. There was nothing I could do to escape. I wish I could, but I'm learning I'm no match for him.”

Thor’s expression falters. He tightens his grip on the gun. “Help me then. Together maybe we can escape. We need to get out of here, please-”

Loki moans, his head tossing back and forth. “Thor?” His speech is still slurred, voice uncertain and confused. Thor hesitates a moment more, looking across at Gamora, then lowers the gun and goes to his brother’s side.

“Don’t move,” He tells Gamora, setting the gun on the counter, close at hand. He helps Loki sit up, takes his hand to prick his finger. A drop of blood on the strip. “Better,” he mutters at the reading. “But not perfect. Here. Can you hold it?” He presses a bottle of juice into Loki’s hand. It slips through his clumsy fingers.

“I don’t…” Loki keeps glancing between Thor and Gamora, shying away. “I don’t know.”

“Hey,” Thor says firmly. Loki’s gaze snaps back to his face. “It is going to be okay,” he says with more confidence than he’s had all night. “Just a bit longer. We’re going to be okay soon.” He breaks open the cap and holds it in Loki's hands, helping him keep it steady, bring the bottle to his lips. He holds Loki’s head steady with his other hand, softly smoothing his hair back with his thumb.

“Kid, we have to get out of here. When Thanos tires of this game and gives up the charade of caring about my life, they’ll break down the door and-”

“I know…I know…” Thor keeps his focus on Loki, making sure he’s swallowing down the liquid without choking. Already his color’s looking a bit better and he looks more alert.

“The window’s too high to jump,” Gamora points out. “There’s no other way out.”

“Would you stop?” Thor shouts. “This is not helping!” Loki jumps, shying away from the harsh tone in his voice. “Sorry.” He rubs his arm.

Gamora heaves a heavy sigh. “Shit. I can’t believe I’m going to do this.”

Thor’s attention snaps back to her. “You’re going to…”

“I’m going to help you. It’s a fucking stupid move but… _shit_. Okay. Listen carefully.”

Loki watches silently, suspicious eyes never leaving Gamora, as Thor repeatedly throws his whole body weight into the wall.

“Are you sure about this?” Loki whispers when Thor stops, panting.

“I’m sure,” Gamora responds. “I’ve studied these plans for two months.”

“I wasn’t talking to you,” Loki snaps.

Thor turns to him. “We don’t have any other choice.” Then he turns back to the wall. On the next blow - his shoulder throbbing - the drywall gives way. “Help me.” Gamora comes and helps tear away the remaining drywall, exposing the rusted iron door. It takes both their strengths to wrench it open.

“There. A dumbwaiter shaft,” Gamora says. “And about eight feet up…a vent. To a small office, with a fire escape.” The ropes from the disused dumbwaiter still dangle down.

“Okay. We just have to climb up there.” Thor looks up, seeing the faint light filtering through the vents. “And hope the rope doesn’t break.”

“Thor-”

“It’s okay. It’s not that far.”

“I’ll go up first. Once I open the vent, he’ll follow me, and you’ll take up the rear,” Gamora says. Thor nods.

“Thor, are you _sure_ -”

“I’ll catch you. Okay? We’ve got to get out of here. This is the only way.”

Loki holds his gaze for another moment and then reluctantly nods.

Gamora gracefully slides into the vent, plants her feet on the wall and grips the rope. She disappears into the darkness. A few minutes later she knocks twice on the metal wall.

“Okay. Did you see what she did? Just copy that. It’s just like climbing the rope in gym class.”

“I was always terrible at that.” Loki’s shaking. He wipes his hands on his pants and takes the rope.

Loki hadn’t ever been good at climbing the rope in gym class. And then he hadn’t had a seizure not an hour ago. Thor takes a deep breath. “It’s going to be okay. Just concentrate, and push, and I’ll be right there to catch you.”

He’s shaky and slow, halting, but with Thor’s gentle encouragement, he makes it up and Gamora pulls him through the vent. Thor can finally let out a breath.

The rope creaks heavily under Thor’s weight as he pulls himself into the shaft. He quickly pulls himself up, as the rope sways, praying it doesn’t snap. It holds and a few seconds later he swings out of the vent.

“Quickly.” Gamora moves towards the window as Loki helps Thor up. They slide the window up. “Okay, go-”

“I should have known.” Thor instinctively grabs Loki at the deep voice behind them, shoving him towards the window. Unexpectedly, Gamora steps in front of them, her hands outstretched and placating.

“Thanos. Come on. They’re just…they’re just kids.”

“I’m disappointed in you…not surprised, but disappointed. You’ve gone soft, daughter. You know this is not the way.”

“Disgusting,” Proxima says, slipping into the room behind Thanos.

There’s a gun in Thanos’s hand. Thor’s heart pounds.

“Go,” Gamora tells them. “Just _go!_ ”

Thor does not need to be told twice. He shoves Loki roughly out the window as the shot rings out, deafeningly loud.

When Thanos raised the gun, Gamora had nearly laughed. _You’re not going to do it_ , she thought. _You’ve never had the guts to do it_. He’d always had a weakness when it came to her. She’d exploited that fact before, in her attempts to escape. Thanos was incapable of love but whatever twisted possession he felt over her made him always hesitate to hurt her the way he hurt the others. No matter what she did, he always let her go.

The sound of the shot was loud. Deafening.

It felt like being punched in the stomach. The pain took another second to register. Then something hot trickles down her skin.

Gamora staggers back until she hits the wall and slides down.

“You shot me. You actually shot me,” She gasps. “Now that was unexpected.”

“Go after them,” Thanos commands Proxima. She smiles wildly and slips out the window. Thanos turns back to Gamora. “I’m sorry, daughter. I cannot keep letting you manipulate me.”

Gamora laughs and tastes copper. “Me manipulating you? Because I didn’t want you to kill a couple of innocent teenagers.” She lets her head fall back against the wall. “So what now? _Father_. Are you going to kill me?”

Thanos says nothing. The gun is level, still in his hand. He doesn't even tremble.

“Move, Loki!” Thor pushes him down the stairs. He glances up to see the tall women clambering through the window. The metal creaks under their combined weights. Loki is stumbling, shaking hard, and Thor can just barely keep him on his feet. They reach the last level of the fire escape - only to find the ladder gone. There’s a rusted gap where it must have once fit into the metal.

“What do we do?” Loki gasps. “It’s gone, there’s nowhere to go-”

The fire escape shudders. She’s coming after them, a feral grin on her face. Thor turns back to Loki. “We have to jump.”

“What?”

“We’re going to jump. It’s okay, it’s not that far a fall, it’s going to be okay.” Thor takes Loki’s face between his hands. “Trust me.” Loki nods.

Thor turns to the edge. Loki grips his arm, punishingly tight. Then Thor launches them over the rail.

Thanos does nothing. He doesn't pull the trigger, he doesn't lower the gun. He says nothing. Gamora presses her hand to her stomach as blood steadily pulses out of the wound.

It is only Proxima's entrance that breaks the tension. She slides through the window and slams her hand against the doorframe with a roar. “They got away. We have to go.”

“Go ahead,” Gamora spits. “Do it. Finish it.”

Thanos hesitates, gun held steady at her head. Then he turns away, leaves her without a backwards glance.

Thor lands first, with a horrifying crack and shooting pain up his leg. He falls back, taking Loki’s weight and absorbing the impact. They hit the ground together, the air knocked from Thor’s lungs. He lays stunned for a moment, before his head clears to Loki desperately tugging on his arm.

“Thor, you have to get up, come on-”

Thor staggers to his feet. His leg threatens to buckle but he holds steady. Loki still tugs on his arm.

“They’ll be coming after us, _Thor!”_

“I know, just…come on.” He has to lean on Loki, his leg threatening to buckle with every step.

They make it, leaning on each other and stumbling, to the next building over. They stagger into the lobby and collapse before a stunned doorman, the phone already in his hand and ringing to 911.

Gamora lets out the breath she’d been holding, in anticipation of the bullet to her head. The second breath comes out a sob. She waits five minutes, then gets unsteadily to her feet. She pulls her shirt over her head, leaving just her undershirt, and balls it against the wound. Jacket back on. The world is getting a bit fuzzy around the edges, the blood loss going straight to her head.

Gamora limps out the back door, into the garden. She manages, with a stifled cry of pain, to vault the garden wall into the alley. Five feet, ten feet. She stumbles ahead, slowing as she loses energy.

Just before she falls, an arm catches her around the waist, pulling her tight to a body.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Gamora,” Peter gasps, dragging her along the alley. “Jesus Christ, I should have fucking known.”

“S-sorry.”

“Fuck, Gamora, Jesus _fucking_ Christ.”

“Not helpful, Peter.”

“Well, I’m helping you walk aren’t I?” They limp down the ally - away from the sound of approaching sirens. “Figured out where you’d gone, that one was real hard, I had to go to some pretty shady links. Figured out that you’d probably need a quick getaway. Got the car, didn’t get a doctor, but I’m sure we can find somebody, in the meantime, Mantis’s got some first aid, I think that was all pretty _helpful_.”

There’s a van at the mouth of the ally. Drax is behind the wheel, Rocket in the passenger seat.

“Christ, Gamora, what the fuck did you get up to?”

“Save it, Rocket, I’ve already gotten it from Peter.”

The door of the van slides open. Nebula, with a grim face, reaches out a hand to help her in. “No hope he’s dead then?”

Gamora shakes her head. “Escaped, as usual.”

“Hm.” Nebula looks away. “They’ll never catch up to Thanos. Lost cause.”

“Sorry,” Gamora says. She leans heavily against the side of the van as Peter slides the door closed and Drax starts the engine.

Nebula gives her an odd look. “Why are you sorry?”

“I thought…I thought I could do one last job. Get us out from under him. Escape _for good_ this time.”

“That is not going to happen. Ever.”

“I wish I could have. For you.”

“You’ve got the next best thing, though,” Peter says. “You’ve got a bunch of friends and a van that can take you girls anywhere you want to go. I’m thinking west.”

“Quill, this van will barely make it to Ohio-”

“Then we’ll go to Ohio.”

Nebula shoots a skeptical look at Gamora. “I believe we should visit a hospital first.”

“Well hospitals are probably a bad idea,” Rocket calls from the front. “But I got a great guy in Queens, okay, well, he’s a vet, normally does cats and dogs but, you know-”

“Jesus Christ, Rocket, a vet?”

“What, he does good work!”

They drive off into the night, bickering all the way, and slowly, slowly Gamora feels the fear of the chase leave her.

Thanos will be back. He is far from gone from their lives, but for now at least they might be safe.

Loki does not take his hand off Thor’s for the entirety of their ride to the hospital. Now that the adrenaline has faded, the pain in Thor’s leg has skyrocketed. He finds he’s having trouble concentrating on anything more than breathing through the pain and holding onto his brother. Loki tolerates another test of his blood sugar, and in turn the paramedic patiently works around Loki’s death grip on Thor’s hand.

Trouble comes when they arrive at the ER and the nurses try to separate them.

“I’m feeling _fine_ now,” Loki insists, gripping Thor’s hand tight enough that Thor is momentarily distracted from the pain in his leg and winces. “I don’t need-”

“We just want to do a few tests, sweetie, and your brother’s going to go for x-rays, so-”

Loki just shakes his head and clings tighter. “Please.”

“Loki, it’s okay-” Thor tries to reassure him, but Loki just firmly shakes his head. There is a short, whispered conversation among the nurses, paramedics, and police officers accompanying them, and then they are brought to a private room with two beds, to Loki’s obvious relief.

There is an hour or so of flurried activity, complicated by how firmly Loki refuses to be separated from him, but finally Thor’s leg is splinted and painkillers are running through his veins. Loki has an IV, has grumpily put up with being forced to eat and have his blood sugar tested several times. Their parents have been called and are on their way back, and a police officer is posted outside their door.

It’s over.

“We’ll let you get a bit of rest before your parents arrive,” The nurse tells them. “Just ring if you need anything.” She dims the lights a bit until the only things left are the glow of the screens and the light filtering through the curtains from the hall. Quiet conversation, the steady beeping of monitors, continues outside their door.

Thor is still reeling from the realization that they are away. That it’s _over_. They’ve made it out of the room, there are cops at their house, they are _safe_.

As soon as they are left alone, Loki tosses off the sheets, disentangles the IV pole from the bed and crosses the room. Thor moves over as best he can to make room, casts aside his blankets. Loki fits against his side, resting his head against Thor’s chest. Thor tucks the blankets around them and wraps an arm around Loki’s shoulders, holding him close.

Loki curls into his side like he was a child again. He sniffles wetly like he’s going to cry.

“We’re okay,” Thor whispers into his hair. “You did good.”

“I did nothing,” Loki responds. “You were the one literally carrying my dead weight-”

Thor jolts at the phrasing, squeezing him tighter. If he hadn’t have gotten out of the room when he had, he may still be locked in there with his brother’s dead body. Or if Gamora hadn’t decided to help them, who knows what Thanos would have done to them.

He wonders what happened to her. He hopes she’s safe too. The loud, ringing shot he heard at the end doesn’t inspire much hope. He supposes they’ll find out later, once the cops have finished their search and started questioning them. He wonders if they’ll find Thanos, if there will be a trial, if they’ll have to testify-

And there is the other drama of the evening, the revelation of Loki's adoption. He meant what he said, it did not change the truth of their relationship, but there would be a lot to discuss. A lot to figure out. They would have to sit their parents down and demand the truth. They would have to learn how to relate to one another again. It wouldn't be the same as it was, it would be new and probably hard for a while, but for the first time in almost a year, Thor has hope. He feels like things just might fit together again.

All of that seems just a little too much to handle at the moment. The drugs are making him sleepy. Loki’s warm, breathing body in his arms acts like an anchor, dragging him down into a peaceful sleep.

Thor can’t help but hold Loki tighter. His eyes sting at the force of his love for his brother. He says as much. Loki doesn’t say anything in return, but wriggles tighter and presses his face against Thor’s chest.

They fall asleep, safe and sound in the hospital. In the morning, their parents arrive. Their mother is nearly hysterical when she throws her arms around the two of them together, squeezing until Loki squeaks in protest.

The police continue questioning them, just as they continue to comb the city looking for Thanos and his associates. They are met with limited results. Thanos is a phantom. Even with their descriptions, they can only find rumors, and traces, and dead ends.

Gamora watches a news segment about the break in on Rocket’s phone from the back of the van as they head out of the city. She lays on top of their bags, watching as much as she can find until Rocket yells at her for wasting his data. Her head swims and the whole adventure just seems so _insanely funny_ in hindsight. That might be the very nice drugs they skimmed from the vet in Queens.

She should worry about what Thanos will do to her, how next he will seek to pull her and her sister back into his orbit. But there will be time for that later.

For now, they’re driving west. They’re not alone. That’s all that matters.

Thanos retreats to lick his wounds. He watches the same news reports Gamora does, scowling. When it finishes he throws the phone into the corner and it shatters.

Thanos goes to ground. He uses his spies and moles to deftly avoid the police searching for him.

This isn’t over. Thanos has never allowed himself to be defeated before, and cannot let it happen now.

He stole a photograph from the apartment before he fled. The photograph shows two smiling boys, a little younger than they are now. He tacks it up on the wall.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic would not be possible without the encouragement of [@ratsats](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ratsats/pseuds/ratsats), whose relentless enthusiasm was an absolute inspiration these last couple months. 
> 
> A fun fact: _Panic Room_ was my first R-rated movie! I don't remember why, but for whatever reason, I was 12 and obsessed and demanded my mom let me watch it. (I asked, she doesn't remember either why I was so intent on seeing this movie.) She very dutifully went and rented it from Blockbuster and watched it herself to make sure the content wasn't _too_ bad and then we watched it together. Recently it was up on Netflix and I rewatched it and thought it would make a good Thor&Loki AU, couldn't get the thought of it out of my head...and the rest is 15k words of an _actual_ all-human AU. (If you haven't been following me for a while, the only other all-human AU I've posted so far was a, uh...[a 'not _quite_ ' all-human AU](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18875164/chapters/44801629).) 
> 
> I really did enjoy writing this! I've been resistant to writing all-human AUs, been more a 'canon divergence' type gal, because I tend to get stuck on the _why_. Why these characters? What about _these_ characters make this story matter? It was really fun to interpret both of the source materials as sort of a mashup and see what the characters bring to the new setting. It was fun and I would definitely consider more 'modern' AUs in the future! I know I sort of set up a bit of a sequel - I left myself a little room there are the end - but of course I make no promises. 
> 
> There are some things I kept kind of vague (the exact nature of what Loki did to Thor's friends), what was up with Hela (who yes, I realize I heavily altered her relationship to them), where the bonds went, etc etc...Yup. Just...I'm aware there are some vague things. I don't have a good excuse. Sorry! (Well, I wanted to focus on mostly just what was going on in the apartment, in that one night.) 
> 
> Sources: 
> 
> (oh god why am I like this, why am I _always_ like this, why is there always a freakin' bibliography) 
> 
> \- There's a very interesting article about depictions of diabetes in cinema, including _Panic Room_ : ["The Cinema of Control: On Diabetic Excess and Illness in Film" by Kevin L. Ferguson.](https://academicworks.cuny.edu/qc_pubs/204/)  
> \- Other diabetes information came from the [American Diabetes Association](https://www.diabetes.org/), [Diabetes Canada Clinical Practice Guidelines](https://guidelines.diabetes.ca/cpg/chapter16), and my own training and experience as an EMT, which to be honest was now a bit over a decade ago, so apologies for any inaccuracies! I tried to be as accurate as possible, but fiction is never perfect and I may have bent some things to make things work, etc etc  
> \- Another note, because apparently this confused people about the original film as well, the emergency shot given is [glucagon](https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/patient-education/glucagon-emergency-kit-low-blood-sugar-glucagon-injection) and _not_ insulin.  
> \- Title is kind of a mashup between the Ferguson article title, and the title a book on this genre of cinema called [_The Cinema of Confinement_ by Thomas J. Connelly.](http://www.nupress.northwestern.edu/content/cinema-confinement)
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading! It's not perfect, but I had a good time and I hope you all enjoyed it! <3 Find me on tumblr [@bereft-of-frogs](https://bereft-of-frogs.tumblr.com/). Kudos/Comments/Shares/Frogs always appreciated!


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